Ebola Virus: How You CAN And CANNOT Get The Disease, Some Cold Hard Facts

Cases of the Ebola virus have slowly popped up in European and USA locations, causing widespread panic to reach fever pitch.

But as the harbingers of doom are beginning to suggest that this could be the end of the human race or, at the very least, the dawn of the zombie apocalypse, we thought it would be a good idea to take a look at the facts.

Ebola, The Beginnings

The first cases of Ebola were discovered in 1976. It is an acute, serious illness, that is often fatal, but it hasn't wiped out the human race as of yet.

The countries in which the spread has been most rampant in 2014 - such as Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, are countries which have a poor national health infrastructure and lack necessary resources.

Can I Catch It From The Air?

In short, no.

Believe it or not, compared to many other viruses, Ebola is not actually "highly contagious."

Ebola doesn't travel through the air in the same way that the flu does, or the chicken pox or meningitis.

So although extremely high precautions need to be observed, the virus is not going to catch on a passing breeze and infect everybody nearby.

The precautions - such as the bio-suits - are so extreme, not because it is extraordinarily contagious, but because the survival rate is not particularly high.

The average Ebola case fatality rate is around 50 per cent, but individual case fatality rates have varied from 25 per cent to 90 per cent in past outbreaks.

And Water?

Nope. Ebola doesn't travel via water - so you don't have to worry about it infecting your home via the kitchen faucet!

So It Passes On Through Touch?

Actually, it is not usually transmitted through just casual contact, such as shaking hands or brushing past someone.

Yes, Ebola is absolutely passed on through bodily fluids, though. And you don't have to get as intimate as kissing or becoming blood brothers with someone.

An Ebola sufferer's infected bodily secretions can get into your body via broken skin OR your mucous membranes (eyes, nose, mouth etc), explains The World Health Organisation.

In the case of this particular virus, the most dangerous fluids to come into contact with are blood, faeces and vomit.

Can I Get It From The Deceased?

The virus can remain active in the body of a dead person yes, but actually, it is people who have survived the illness who can be unwittingly implicated in the spread of Ebola.

According to the Washington Post, the Ebola virus can survive in a person's semen for up to three months after they have recovered!

A great argument for condoms if ever we've heard one!

But How Do I Know Who To Avoid?

Well, firstly, if you're in the UK, you should probably be more worried about catching the flu.

But if you're desperately concerned, despite lots of scaremongering about Ebola having a 21 day incubation period and people being carriers even though they feel totally healthy, actually you needn't worry so much.

A person is VERY RARELY contagious before they themselves are suffering the symptoms of the virus.

What Are The Symptoms?

The intial symptoms are fever, fatigue, muscle soreness and a sore throat.

Later down the line, though, patients experience vomiting, diarrhoea, a rash, kidney and liver failure, as well as the famous internal and external bleeding.

This external bleeding, however, does not make them look like the scary zombies of everybody's imagination. External bleeding usually takes the form of bleeding in the gums and stools.

How Concerned Should I Be?

In short, if you do not live in one of the higher risk areas, you do not have to be very concerned.

The governments in the UK and the US have all kinds of strategic plans in place to contain a dangerous virus and prevent an outbreak of the sort that has been prophesied.

The euthanasia of a Spanish nurse's dog was a precaution. You do not need to worry about your own dog and to date there have been no links between cats and the Ebola virus.

How Should I Protect Myself?

As you ought to be doing anyway, to protect yourself from influenza - be sure to wash your hands thoroughly, after any public outings, touching tube handrails or greeting other people with a handshake.

Wherever possible, do not bring your hands into contact with your mouth without washing them thoroughly first.

Be extremely careful when caring for sick relatives - dispose of tissues in sealed plastic bags. Wear gloves if you have to deal with soiled bedsheets or clothing.

If you have to deal with someone else's heavy vomiting - wear a mask that covers your nose and mouth.

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To be clear though, these are standard precautions that should be observed when dealing with any sort of infectious illness. The threat of Ebola to the UK population at large is not severe.